Protecting our noisy neighbors — the gulls

Gulls, above, spend time along the Portage River on Friday afternoon. Residents have noticed injured or seemingly-abandoned gulls in downtown Port Clinton lately. A young injured sea gull, top right, spends time in the parking lot of the Jefferson Street pier Wednesday. A fisherman said he fed the young gull some fish and that it was trying to fly despite its injured wing.(Photo: Jessica Denton/News Herald photos)Buy Photo

PORT CLINTON – It's just one of things that comes with living by the water — the wind, the pop-up rain storms, the occasional fishy smell and the gulls.

But while residents find the gulls an annoyance in downtown Port Clinton, others have noticed a few injured juvenile gulls walking the streets and sidewalks and wonder what can be done about them.

"Isn't there a wildlife officer we can bring in?" Dave Pitts, of Port Clinton, asked. He's noticed several birds who have been hit in the streets as he's biked through town. He said he's seen between six and 10 young gulls down at street level near the Key Bank building who are unable to fly.

"People bring in 30-40 juveniles every year, but most are perfectly healthy," Mona Rutger, founder of Back to the Wild Wildlife Rehabilitation and Nature Education Center in Castalia. "They think they're abandoned, but mom and dad keep an eye on them, they still feed them."

Rutger said gulls lay two to four eggs a year, called a clutch, in their nests and will incubate them until they hatch about three and half weeks later. The gulls grow quickly, and within several weeks, they are the same size as their parents but are unable to fly. These juvenile gulls, gray or brown in color, will move out of the nest then and roam the sidewalks and parking lots, waiting for their wings to strengthen to fly.

However, the mother and father will continue to feed the baby gulls for up to 12 weeks after they hatch, so often times they are not abandoned at all. It takes between four or five years for the gulls to get their adult plumage, to turn from gray to white and become a full adult. The most common gulls in the area are herrings, which are larger white birds, and ring-billed gulls, which have a black ring around the end of their beaks and are smaller than herrings.

"We can't take care of the healthy young gulls, we have to return them to their habitat unless they've been injured," Rutger said.

Terri Williams, a Port Clinton resident and employee of Reinheimer and Reinheimer law offices, said last week she saw an injured gull who was dragging its wing in the parking lot between the VFW and the Post Office on Second Street.

"I was able to coax it into a little enclosure and gave it food and water, and I was going to bring it to Back to the Wild to get it help, but it disappeared before I could get it there," Williams said. "I don't know if he got the strength to get away or if something got him. I sure hope he's OK."

Williams and Billy and Kelly Rigoni helped to get another injured gull over to Rutger at Back to the Wild earlier this year. It had a cut on its torso.

"He still had a little fuzz on his head, so we knew he was young," Williams said. "We ended up naming him Edmund. They took great care of him over there and he was released."

As for residents or tourists who have hit the gulls with their cars, they're breaking federal law. The International Migratory Bird Treaty Act, signed in 1918, protects all native birds, from robins, to turkeys, blue-jays and gulls. Those who destroy a nest or harm a gull in any way are breaking the law and are subject to a $15,000 fine, depending on the offense.

"We understand that nature runs its course," Rutger said. "But they shouldn't have to die at the hands of human carelessness. They're very beneficial to have around."

Rutger said the birds are great scavengers and eat just about anything they come across, including human food. Gulls often eat the dead fish on the beaches, crayfish, clams, muscles, invertebrates, mice, voles, frogs and smaller birds. But Rutger warns if humans continue to feed them, the gulls will stay around.

"It teaches them to stay around people and cars, which is how they get hurt, because people will just run them over. The gulls are so used to people, they don't see the danger," she said.

jdenton@gannett.com

419-734-7506

Twitter: @jessicadentonNH

How you can help injured gulls

If you see a gull or any bird dragging a wing or bleeding, it needs immediate help.

• Call Back to the Wild at 419-684-9539 so it can send a wildlife professional out.

• Cover the gull in a blanket or sheet.

• Place it in a cardboard or paper box to contain it.

• Use a broom or something to scoop it into the box.

• Be careful, gulls have very sharp beaks.

• Do not handle bare-handed.

Back to the Wild Wildlife Rehabilitation and Nature Education Center is at 4504 Barshar Road in Castalia.